Locally Grown Food Leads to Old-Fashioned Country Market in Osceola

OSCEOLA, Iowa- Pete Woltz of Osceola has developed Timber Ridge Beef Jerky snacks from beef raised on his farm. It has grown into an old-fashioned country store called Timber Ridge Country Market.

“We started a beef stick company about 12 years ago,” said Woltz. “Our niche is that we feed flaxseed to the cattle so the meat is a little higher in omega-3‘s.”

Woltz added that his product has been very popular, selling at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market on Court Avenue.

“Kim Jackson who is the manager of the store would help me out at the farmers market,” said Woltz. “She she and I would get up early in the morning and drive the product up to Court Avenue, we would begin kind of conceptualizing the idea on the trip up there.”

That’s where the idea for Timber Ridge Country Market was hatched. Woltz already had rented a storefront on the north side of the Osceola town square.

“This building back in the ‘30s and ‘40s used to be called Crawford Produce,” said Waltz. “It was of one of four produce stores in Osceola, that the basic function was taking cream and eggs from farmers around the community and giving them cash.”

The farmers would then buy supplies in town with the money earned. Now Timber Ridge is also licensed to buy eggs, and sell in the store. Timber Ridge sells beef, eggs and a number of food items. The other foods are obtained through a co-op network of Iowa producers.

“It’s like an online farmers market, we can be in contact with the various producers,” said Timber Ridge Manager, Kim Jackson. “They have a full disclosure policy, where they let everybody know how everything was raised, or made, and where it was located.”

Customers order sandwiches for delivery in town. Some pick up their orders, or eat in the store.

“For one thing may the products are from right around here and they’re prepared by people who live right around here,” said customer, Bill Trickey. “I’m just pretty simple, I like good food.”

“The food is outstanding, local vendors and stuff,” said customer Brian Flaherty. “So it’s always like eating food from Iowa local vendors, and help support everybody.”

Timber Ridge Country Market holds a monthly Blue Grass Jam Session, on the first Saturday from 10am to 2 pm.